Transcutaneous electrical stimulation (tES) is a new approach that aims to stimulate the brain. Recently, we have developed tES approaches to enhance plasticity that modulate cortical activity via the greater occipital nerve (ON) in a “bottom-up” way. Thirty subjects between the ages of 55 and 70 years were enrolled and tested using a double-blind, sham-controlled, and randomized design. Half of the participants received active stimulation, while the other half received sham stimulation. Our results demonstrate that ON-tES can enhance memory in older individuals after one session, with effects persisting up to 28 days after stimulation. The hypothesized mechanism by which ON-tES enhances memory is activation of the locus coeruleus–noradrenaline (LC-NA) pathway. It is likely that this pathway was activated after ON-tES, as supported by observed changes in α-amylase concentrations, a biomarker for noradrenaline. There were no significant or long-lasting side effects observed during stimulation. Clinicaltrial.gov (NCT03467698).

中文翻译：

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大枕神经刺激可增强老年人的联想记忆：一项随机试验

经皮电刺激 (tES) 是一种旨在刺激大脑的新方法。最近，我们开发了 tES 方法来增强可塑性，以“自下而上”的方式通过枕大神经 (ON) 调节皮质活动。30 名年龄在 55 至 70 岁之间的受试者被招募并使用双盲、假手术对照和随机设计进行测试。一半的参与者接受主动刺激，而另一半接受假刺激。我们的结果表明，ON-tES 可以在一个疗程后增强老年人的记忆力，其效果在刺激后持续长达 28 天。ON-tES 增强记忆的假设机制是蓝斑-去甲肾上腺素 (LC-NA) 通路的激活。这条通路很可能在 ON-tES 后被激活，正如观察到的α-淀粉酶浓度变化所支持的那样，α-淀粉酶浓度是去甲肾上腺素的生物标志物。在刺激期间没有观察到显着或持久的副作用。Clinicaltrial.gov (NCT03467698)。